ON SCHOOL SHOOTINGS: A NO NONSENSE FEDERAL LAW IS REQUIRED

            This law shall be known as the: 

      "Federal Anti-Violence Act of 2014"

"This law is intended to protect the citizens of the United States of America from gun violence.

Any person who commits a misdemeanor or felony while carrying or displaying on their person a pistol, rifle, shotgun, bow, or any other weapon that is designed to throw a projectile shall be subject to this law if the misdemeanor or felony is committed within any of the states or territories comprising the United States of America.  

If a person is convicted by any court in any state or territory comprising the United States of America of a misdemeanor or felony while carrying or displaying on their person a pistol, rifle, shotgun, bow, or any other weapon that is designed to throw a projectile the person convicted shall serve an additional twenty years of imprisonment, in addition to any sentence presented by the court, in a Federal penal facility. No additional trial or conviction shall be required by this law. This twenty-year sentence shall begin within one day following the end of any state or local imprisonment awarded by the local, state, or territorial jurisdiction.

If the misdemeanor or felony is committed by a minor child, and that minor child is convicted of a misdemeanor or felony while carrying or displaying on their person a pistol, rifle, shotgun, bow, or any other weapon that is designed to throw a projectile, then said minor's adult parents, step parents, foster parents, friend, relative or whomever under local law is responsible for the care and nurture of the convicted minor on the day the misdemeanor or felony was committed shall be deemed to have abetted the minor person in the conduct of the misdemeanor or felony and shall serve in stead of the convicted minor child the mandated twenty-year sentence required under this law."

Three more teens dead in Washington shooting at school. We need to start tackling this problem in America.  I am sick and tired of reading about our children shot senselessly in their classrooms and elsewhere. 

Someone has to be the adult in this conversation about guns. The Second Amendment gives no one the right to kill Americans.

ON MICHAEL DUNN MURDERING JORDAN DAVIS: SLOW JUSTICE IN FLORIDA

Yesterday Michael Dunn was convicted of first-degree murder, a crime that results in a life sentence in the Florida Penitentiary System. As a reminder, Mr. Dunn shot and killed 17-year-old Jordan Davis because Dunn did not like the "thug" music coming from Davis' vehicle. Maybe there is justice coming to Florida. I thought I would also reissue this blog as a reminder.

Michael Dunn shot and killed Jordan Davis. Why? Dunn says teenagers listening to loud music put him, "In fear of his life," according to the Orlando Sentinel.  So, faced by four black teenagers and their loud music, he pulled a 9-mm pistol from his glove compartment and shot into the Dodge Durango from which the music was booming. He did not shoot once or twice, he shot ten times. He kept firing even as the teens tried to speed backwards out of the line of fire.

Jordan Davis was in the back seat. Three of the ten bullets hit him.  One of those rounds killed him. Jordan Davis will never see his 18th birthday. His parents will not see him graduated from his magnet high school.

How did Mr. Dunn get into this predicament?  He decided to pull his black VW Jetta right up next to an SUV playing music he later told his fiance he hated. The music was already blaring when the 47-year-old white man decided to park, according to The Florida Times-Union's Jacksonville.com.  Mr. Dunn did not try to find another space to park his car so his eardrums were not hurt by the loud music, as he claimed they were when he took the stand in his own defense.

After his fiance went into the store to buy wine, Dunn told the kids to turn down the volume. Every witness involved in this incident claim this is when "words" were exchanged.  Dunn's fiance, who heard the shots from inside the store, came out to see what happened. Dunn told her to get in the car and they drove off. The boys in the SUV had already backed out of the parking spot to get away from Dunn's bullets.  They stopped in an adjacent strip mall lot, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Dunn did not tell his fiance he saw a gun.  He never went to see, or even called, the police.  On his website, justicefordunn.com, he claims "thug culture" caused the shooting.

As I write, the murder trial for Dunn is being held in Jacksonville, Florida.  The verdict is now in the jury's hands. When asked why he did not stay or call the police, he claimed he could not give a reason.  He testified he had to get back to the bed and breakfast quickly so his dog Charlie could, "go potty," according to a CNN report. The police said none of the four youngsters in the SUV had a weapon and no weapon was found in the car.  

Here is what I think caused this crime. Mr. Dunn, who had been drinking at a reception for his son's wedding, saw four young men who looked different and played loud music he did not like. He pulled up right next to them to get in their face. When he told them to turn down the volume, and they did nothing, he snapped. His hatred for "thug culture", the word "thug" being the new racist term used to replace the "N-word," illuminates Dunn's reason for shooting.

Because he had a gun, and with his thinking impaired, he believed he could discharge his weapon and suffer no consequences.  After all, he was in Florida.  He could claim he was standing his ground. A jury of his peers (I would bet that in his mind this means a group of only white people) would listen to his story and understand exactly why he carried a gun, why he pulled it out, and why he fired.  He was in the south and "everyone" in the south knows black kids do not mouth off to white men and get away with it.  It is against a code that has existed for hundreds of years.

And, because buying and concealing guns is so easy in Florida, I believe this type of violence will continue to rise. In the background check for purchasing a weapon from a licensed firearms dealer, and on the questionnaire required by the State of Florida to procure a Concealed Weapon or Firearm License, the only questions asked relate to age, physical ability to handle a weapon, military service, citizenship, and whether you have been in trouble with the law. The latter includes questions about felony and other convictions, restraining orders, and non-voluntary mental health incarcerations.

I think this line of questioning would be sufficient if you were applying for a driver's license or a teacher's certificate. I think they are shallow and weak when applied to the purchase of a gun or a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Along with the license questions listed above, I believe additional areas need exploration, followed by a psychiatric interview and home visit. Among these are:

1. Do you harbor ill feelings against any person of another race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or ethnic origin?
2. Do you fantasize about coming to someone's rescue and using your weapon to disarm the perpetrator?
3. Do you fantasize about coming upon a person preparing to perform, or actually performing, an illegal act and using your firearm to stop them?
4. Do you have anger management issues?  Are you a control freak?
5. Have you ever struck another human being with your hand?  If so, why?
6. Have you ever struck another human being with an object?  If so, why?
7. Does someone inside your head talk to you now and again?  If so, what does he/she talk about?
8. Do you have a gun lock or locker in which you swear, under penalty of a minimum $20,000 fine and ten years in prison, any and all of your firearms will be kept under lock when not on your person?
9. Do you accept full responsibility for the safety of your weapons, including keeping your weapons out of the hands of anyone under age 18, mentally impaired, and/or under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, including yourself, subject to the penalties outlined in question # 8?

I am sure there are more questions that need to be asked of people wanting to carry a gun.  The questions asked now may keep felons from purchasing guns from licensed dealers, but they do not keep a man or woman with anger issues unarmed.  They are the ones I worry about every time I hear a loud argument anywhere in the United States.

ON JUSTICE: IT'S A LITTLE SLOW IN FLORIDA

Yesterday Michael Dunn was convicted of first-degree murder, a crime that results in a life sentence in the Florida Penitentiary System. As a reminder, Mr. Dunn shot and killed 17-year-old Jordan Davis because Dunn did not like the "thug" music coming from Davis' vehicle. Maybe there is justice coming to Florida. I thought I would reissue this blog as a reminder.


There is a famous scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" when Harrison Ford's character, Indiana Jones, is confronted by a man with a sword. Rather than engage in a sword fight, Indiana pulls out his pistol and shoots the man dead. Evidently white people who live in Florida think every black man must have a sword in his pocket.  Why else would they all feel justified in shooting black men and boys without guns?

Just yesterday, in Brandon, near Florida's west coast, Lew Tyree lost his life when, according to the Tampa Bay Times, he stabbed a cat, attempted to break a window, and was carrying a butcher knife.  Three Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies shot him, "at least three times," because they could not talk him into dropping the knife.  They fired at him when he made, "threatening comments," according to the paper.  Mr. Tyree was a black man, age 41.

Back in July of last year, in Escambia County, which is located in north Florida and includes the city of Pensacola, 60-year-old Roy Middleton was shot by two sheriff's deputies because a neighbor did not recognize him and called 911. Mr. Middleton was getting cigarettes out of his mother's car parked in his driveway. The deputies fired on the unarmed black man 15 times, severely injuring Mr. Middleton. The Sheriff's office blamed "officer anxiety" for the shooting, according to CNN.

Two 17-year-old boys, Trayvon Martin, shot and killed in February 2012, and Jordan Davis, shot and killed in November 2012, were murdered before they could celebrate their 18th birthdays.  Martin, armed with Skittles, and Davis, armed with loud music, were both African-American. They were not shot by deputies, but by two white men who both claimed were in fear for their life. George Zimmerman, who shot Martin, actually chased the boy before shooting him. Michael Dunn, who killed Davis, kept firing his gun even after Davis and his friends tried to flee.

I have been a white guy in America for more than 66 years.  I have never had to shoot a black man or boy. I have never feared black men or boys.  I grew up in the city of Baltimore, which had a predominantly black population when I lived there.  Never once was I threatened by black folks of any gender.  I lived in center city Philadelphia for ten years.  Same scenario, no threats.  Even living in Florida, where, evidently, black boys and men are seen as evil, I have not been threatened in any way by people of color.

According to LegallyArmed.com, through August 2013, Florida had issued almost 1.2 million concealed carry permits. Further, there are more than 35,000 armed police officers in Florida. So, from this man's perspective, African-American men living in, or vacationing in, Florida need to have a weapon.

Do not arm yourself with a knife, carry a gun. At least you will be able to defend yourself from the armed citizen or the deputy who wants to shoot you for something you did not do. Just make sure you have a carry permit so you can claim you were, "standing your ground."  By the way, in Florida we honor all valid out-of-state concealed carry permits.